Until we take complete responsibility for our behavior, we are powerless to change it.
Often my clients blame work stress as the reason why they didn’t lose weight or had a bad eating week. “Work was so stressful this week,” they’ll say. “I had a huge deadline and I worked extra hours…”
While the stress is valid, the behavior choices are not work’s fault.
Instead of shifting the blame to work, my clients should say, “I didn’t cope well with my work stress this week. I didn’t plan well for the long hours. I didn’t take enough healthy foods along.” The blame solely rests on “me, myself and I.”
I used to say that my mom sabotaged my weight loss by bringing over homemade cookies, ice cream, and pizza. I finally recognized that I was the one with the problem. I had a weakness for those foods. I didn’t plan a way to deal with the temptation.
While the temptation was valid, the behavior choices were not my mom’s fault.
Instead of shifting blame I had to own my weakness. “Mom, please don’t bring any junk food over to my house because I have a problem with it. I can’t stop eating it.”
Don’t shift the blame. When you take responsibility for your choices, you then have the power to change your choices.
